Garment bag and supporting frame



March 9, 1954 GREENGOLD GARMENT BAG AND SUPPORTING FRAME Filed March. 28, 1952 FIGJ.

FIG.3.

- INVENTOR 15/0012: GEEENGOLD ATTORNEYS Patented Mar. 9, 1 954 UNITED STATES ATENT OFFICE GARMENT BAG AND SUPPORTING FRAME Isidore Greengold, New York, N. Y.

Application March 28, 1952, Serial No. 279,166

7 Claims. 1

My invention relates to an improved garment bag in which all of the weight of the garments is borne by the supporting frame of the bag. The supporting frame is provided with novel means for opening and closing the bag, and also with novel means whereby the bag may be hung on a variety of supports.

The frame may be formed out of a single piece of stock to comprise a pair of longitudinal upper arms and a pair of longitudinal lower arms with a pair of rear transverse connecting legs. The lower arms support the garments. The upper arms may be hung on a closet rod or the like. The connecting legs respectively support pivotally mounted bars to which the garment bag is attached. In addition, a bracket and a hook are attached to the frame for hanging the bag upon a door or the like or upon a hook or the like.

The garment bag, in addition to having con ventional opening and closing means in its front walls, has its top wall divided into two separate panels, each of which is attached to on of said pivotally mounted support bars. The contents of the bagv can only be conveniently removed when the conventional opening and closing means are opened, and when the support bars are moved so as to spread apart the top wall panels. The frame and support bars are so constructed that the support bars may be. readily locked in a closing position.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description, in conjunction with the annexed. drawing, in which a preferred embodiment is shown.

In the drawing,

Fig. 1 isa perspective view of the upper part of my improved garment bag, showing it closed. A window, wall hook and closet rod, on any one of which the bag may be mounted, are shown in broken lines.

Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1, showing the bag partly open.

Fig. 3 is a detail section, partly broken away, on line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

Upon reference to the drawing in detail, it will be seen that my improved garment bag It is substantially rectangular in shape, with the usual side and rear walls. The front wall comprises a pair of vertically extending panels II whose inner edges are respectively provided with conventional hookless fastener tapes [2 upon which slider I3 is mounted for opening and closing the frontof bag III.

The top of bag ill comprises a pair of panels 14 whose front edges are respectively joined by welting [5 or the like to the top edges of respective panels Ii. Said welting It also joins said panels M to the sides and rear of bag It. inner edge portions of said panels I4 are spaced from each other and are respectively provided with seams 21. When bag it is closed, said seams 21 extend in what may be considered as a longitudinal direction. Pivot bars l5 and ii respectively extend longitudinally through the openings of said scams 2! with the minor axes of said bars [6 and I1 extending transversely. Said bars 56 and I? serve as means for mounting bag it on a support frame 26.

This frame 26 is preferably formed from a unitary piece of metal rod stock which isbent to form a pair of parallel, longitudinally extending lower arms 2'! whose front ends are joined by a connecting member 22 which is preferably in the shape of an inverted U. The rear ends of said arms 2| are respectively connectedto the respective lower ends of a pair of vertical legs IS. The upper ends of these legs It are respectively connected to the respective rear ends of a pair of parallel, longitudinally extending upper arms 23 whose front ends are joined at 25. Said arms 23 are respectively provided with upwardly convex bends 25 which are adapted to rest upon a laterally extending closet rod 26 or the like, as shown in broken lines in Figs. 1 and 2, so as to support frame 20.

The rear ends of said bars l6 and I1 are respectively bent inwardly upon themselves to form respective bearings it, which have substantially cylindrical, transverse bores through which respective frame legs [9 extend turnably.

Preferably, a laterally extending bar 28 is connected to the bars 19 near their lower ends and below the bearings i8. This bar 28 serves as stop means to limit the downward movement of bearings it when frame 20 is supported by rod 25 or other means.

Bars i6 and H are swingable between an open position, as shownin Fig. 2, and a closing position, as shown in Fig. l, in which slider It may be moved to the top of bag it to close the front thereof. Prior to closing bag [0, a plurality of laterally extending, longitudinally registering garments 29 mounted on hangers 36 may be placed in the bag with the hooks 3i of said hangers resting upon the arms 2|, as clearly shown in broken lines in Fig. 2. It will be noted'that the weight of the garments 29 is entirely supported by frame 28 and not by the garment bag ID.

The front ends of bars 11 and I5 are respectively provided with an interfitting tongue 32: and

The

3 buckle 33 which serve as a closure assembly for bag I0. Said tongue 32 may be fixed to bar H by any suitable means and extends forwardly thereof, in the position of Fig. l. Said tongue 32 is laterally curved to provide an outwardly extending central portion 32a.

Said buckle 33 is connected to bar 16 by of bearing 34, which is fixed to the front end of bar l6 by any suitable means and which has a transverse bore. Buckle 33 is substantially rec tangular, with one of its arms 33a extending turnably through the bore of bearing 34. The closure assembly may be engaged in the manner shown in Fig. l with the leg 33b of buckle 33 abutting the outer face of the rear end portion of tongue 32. The weight of bag l tends to swing bars 16 and I! away from each other, so that leg 33b is held against tongue 32. As a result, the outwardly protruding portion 32a of tongue 32 tends to prevent disengagement of the closure assembly.

When bag I0 is closed, buckle 33 is positioned slightly forwardly of and in substantial longitudinal registration with connecting member 22. If desired, the cross-arm of member 22 and the upper cross-arm of buckle 33 may be locked t; gether by a conventional padlock. In this case, even though slider l3 may be moved to its open. position, the panels ll cannot be separated sufficiently for quick removal of the garments 29, particularly if they are closely packed within bag Ii].

An important feature of my invention is the provision of alternate means for supporting frame 20, in addition to the previously described bent portions 25. This is important in case closet rod 26 or the like is unavailable. Said alternate means are bracket 35 and loop 35.

Bracket 35 comprises a transverse plate 3? to the front face of which are attached a pair of transversely spaced cross-rods 38. These rods 38 are in turn secured to the rear of legs l9. S5114 plate 31 has at its upper edge a rearwardly extending flange 39. Another flange 40 depend; from the rear edge of flange 39 and is parallel te plate 31. Frame 20 may be supported on door ii or the like, which is shown in broken lines in Figs. 1 and 2, with flange 39 resting on top of door 4| and with flange 40 and plate 37 adjacent opposite faces of door 4|.

Loop 36 has depending legs 42 whose lower ends are bent to form bearings through which cross-rod 43 extends turnably. Said rod i3 secured to the lower faces of arms 23 adjacent their rear ends. Frame 20 may be supported on hook 44 or the like, which is shown in broken lines in Figs. 1 and 2, said hook 44 extendin through loop 36.

Another important feature of my invention is the fact that the arms 23, which are located above top wall M, have a dual purpose. As previously mentioned, these arms 23 are suitable for supporting the bag from closet rod 26 or the like. In addition, these arms 23 are sufficiently spaced apart laterally and are sufiiciently raised above top wall M to serve as a very convenient means for manually carrying the bag. This rep resents a considerable improvement over a number of prior garment bags, which were extremely clumsy to handle when transported from place to place.

While I have disclosed a preferred embodiment of my invention and have indicated various changes, omissions and additions which may be made therein, it will be apparent that various other changes, omissions and additions may be made in the invention without departing from the scope and spirit thereof.

I claim:

1. A garment bag and supporting frame assembly, said assembly comprising a garment bag which has a top wall, front and rear walls and side walls, said top wall having a longitudinal slit which extends between the front and rear walls thereof and which divides said top wall into two panels, said front wall having a vertical slit which is co-extensive with said top wall slit, a frame, said frame comprising a unitary piece of rod stock which is bent to form a pair of laterally spaced longitudinal lower arms, means connecting the front ends of said lower arms, upstanding vertical legs respectively connected to the respective rear ends of said longitudinal arms, and longitudinal upper arms respectively connected to the respective upper ends of said legs and extending forwardly thereof, means connecting the front ends of said upper arms, said lower arms being positioned below said top wall, said legs extending through said top wall slit, and a pair of pivot bars, each of said pivot bars being positioned with its minor axis extending vertically and being bent at one end to form a bearing which has a vertical bore, one of said legs extending turnably through said bore, each of said panels having a seam along its entire inner edge which has a longitudinal through-and-through opening, each of said bars extending through the seam opening of the panel proximate to the leg on which said bar is mounted, said bars being turnable between a position in which the edges of said slits are adjacent each other and a position in which the edges of said slits diverge from each other.

2. An assembly in accordance with claim 1, in which said upper arms are upwardly bowed at the central portions thereof.

3. A garment bag and supporting frame assembly, said assembly comprising a garment bag which has a top wall, front and rear walls and side walls, said top wall having a longitudinal slit which extends rearwardly from the front edge thereof and. which divides said top wall into two panels, said front wall having a vertical slit which is co-extensive with said top wall slit, a frame, said frame comprising a unitary piece of rod stock which is bent to form a pair of laterally spaced longitudinal lower arms, means connecting the front ends of said lower arms, and upstanding vertical legs respectively connected to the respective rear ends of said longitudinal arms, said lower arms being positioned below said top wall, said vertical legs extending through said top wall slit, means attached to said vertical legs above said top wall whereby said frame may be externally supported, and a pair of pivot bars, said pivot bars being respectively mounted on said vertical legs so as to be turnable about the respective axes thereof, each of said panels having a seam along its inner edge through which a respective pivot bar extends, said pivot bars being turnable between a position in which the edges of said slits are adjacent each other and a position in which the edges of said slits diverge from each other.

4. An assembly in accordance with claim 3, said supporting means attached to said vertical legs comprising longitudinal upper arms extending forwardly from the respective upper ends of said vertical legs, said upper arms being upwardly bowed at the central positions thereof.

5. An assembly in accordance with claim 3,

said supporting means attached to said vertical legs comprising a cross-rod, and a loop pivotally mounted on said cross-rod for movement about the axis thereof.

6. An assembly in accordance with claim 3, said supporting means attached to said vertical legs comprising a bracket plate, a lateral flange mounted on said bracket plate and extending rearwardly thereof, and a depending flange attached to said first-mentioned flange and which is parallel to and spaced from said bracket plate.

7. An assembly in accordance with claim 3, said assembly also comprising closure elements respectively attached to the front ends of said pivot bars, said closure members being respectively positioned proximate to the connecting means for the front ends of said lower arms when the bag is closed, whereby said closure means and said lower arm connecting means may be locked together to prevent opening of the bag.

ISIDORE GREENGOLD.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,081,848 Macdonald M Dec. 16, 1913 1,425,228 Altman Aug. 8, 1922 1,833,147 Atkinson Nov. 24, 1931 1,948,019 Ballentine Feb. 20, 1934 2,128,099 Marks Aug. 23, 1938 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 265,920 Germany Oct. 16, 1913 

